Valborg: Walpurgis Night Bonfires

Valborg is Sweden’s welcome to spring: a bonfire, a choir and a speech on the evening of 30 April. Here’s what happens, where visitors can watch, what closes the next day, and the fire rules if you are lighting one yourself.

When you need this

• Your trip includes the last days of April
• You want to see a bonfire or hear spring sung in without a Swedish host
• You are visiting Uppsala or Lund around 30 April
• You are buying alcohol for the Valborg weekend
• You are organising or joining a bonfire on private or public land

When is Valborg? The party comes before the holiday

Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Night, usually just Valborg) is always 30 April. It is named after Saint Walburga, by legend an English princess who lived in the German convent of Heidenheim in the 700s. Her feast was on 1 May, and since 1901 Valborg’s name day in the Swedish calendar has been 1 May — so the celebration is held the evening before.

The day that matters for your plans is the next one. Swedish law makes 1 May (första maj) a public holiday whatever the weekday, while 30 April is an ordinary working day. The evening of the bonfire is a normal Friday or Tuesday; the day after is a red day.

What happens on the evening

What began as a church feast is now a celebration of spring and the start of the summer half of the year. According to Sweden’s Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof), the evening in many places follows the same pattern:

1. A bonfire is lit at dusk. It goes by several names — valborgsmässoeld, valborgsbål or majbrasa. One original purpose of the fire was to scare predators away from livestock about to be let out onto the new grass, and to ward off supernatural forces.
2. A choir sings spring in. Choral singing accompanies the fire.
3. Someone gives a spring speech (vårtal).

Look for the municipal or local-association bonfire where you are staying; the municipality’s website is the place to check. Among Finland-Swedish speakers you may hear the greeting glada vappen, from the Finnish name for the day, vappu.

Uppsala and Lund: the student cities

Isof names the university cities of Uppsala and Lund as the places where the day is celebrated most intensively. Both are free and held in public spaces.

Uppsala — sista april. “The last of April” runs from champagne breakfasts, raft racing on the river and herring lunches to student song and a champagne gallop. The fixed point is the donning of the caps (mösspåtagning) below the university library, Carolina Rediviva. At 15:00 the vice-chancellor waves a student cap (studentmössa) from the library balcony, thousands of students, residents and visitors put on their own, and the male-voice choir Orphei Drängar sings spring songs from the steps. In 2026 the university listed the event as 14:45–15:30. Arrive before 15:00.

Lund — siste april. The City of Lund describes its Stadsparken celebration as a festival of around 25,000 visitors. In 2026 there was music from the park’s stage from 10:00 to 15:00, then speeches and choral singing from 19:30, ending with the lighting of the bonfire. The municipality sets event rules for the park:

Next year’s programmes had not been published at verification, so check the university’s and the municipality’s pages in April.

What closes around Valborg

Because 30 April is a normal working day, shops and services keep ordinary hours on the evening itself. The closures come on 1 May.

• Public transport runs a weekday timetable on valborgsmässoafton, with extra night services in at least one region, and a Sunday service on 1 May.
• Systembolaget, the state retailer and the only shop selling anything above 3.5%, closes on every public holiday and every Sunday. In 2027 that means it is shut on Saturday 1 May and Sunday 2 May, back to back. Buy on Thursday or Friday. Systembolaget notes that local deviations can occur, and its spring 2027 holiday hours had not been published at verification. Full detail is in Systembolaget opening hours.

For how 1 May fits into the whole calendar, see Swedish public holidays.

Bonfire rules: permits, fire bans and hedgehogs

If you are only watching, the organisers carry the responsibility. If you are building or lighting one — at a rental house, a summer cottage or with a local group — the rules are specific.

Permission. A bonfire in a place the public can reach needs a police permit under the Public Order Act, either for a public event or a public gathering, depending on the programme. A fire for a closed party on land the public cannot access needs no permit. Nacka municipality notes that since February 2025 a Valborg fire with police permission for a public event needs no separate municipal exemption. You also need the landowner’s permission.

A fire ban beats a permit. No fire may be lit while a ban is in force, permit or not. Bans are issued by a county administrative board or a municipality, never nationally, and late April can be dry. Check the fire-ban map for the municipality you are in on the day itself. A ban can carry a general exemption for Walpurgis bonfires that meet stated precautions, but only the authority that issued it can grant one. Breaching a ban is punishable by fines.

What to burn. Only branches, twigs and woody garden material. Burning other waste is prohibited.

Rescue-service advice:

• Check for hedgehogs. Hedgehogs may have spent the winter inside a brush pile that has stood since autumn. Rescue services ask you to make sure they have moved out before you light it.
• Keep your distance. Rescue services use 50 metres from buildings, forest, power lines and railways as a guide; one caps a pile at 50 cubic metres.
• No petrol or methylated spirits to get it going — the burn risk is high.
• Never leave it unattended, and keep hoses or buckets of water ready until it is out.
• Skip it in strong wind or on very dry ground, ban or no ban.

Everyday campfires are covered in campfire rules in Sweden.

Drinking outdoors on Valborg

Sweden has no national ban on drinking in public. Each municipality designates no-alcohol places by local ordinance — typically schoolyards, playgrounds and cemeteries, plus mapped zones that can include parks, some only at certain times. Event rules can add to that, as Lund’s glass ban and confiscation from under-20s show. Check the local map before opening a bottle by the fire; drinking in public in Sweden explains how.

Practical information

FAQ

When is Valborg in Sweden?

Valborg, or valborgsmässoafton, is always 30 April. In 2027 it falls on a Friday. The day after, 1 May, is a public holiday in Swedish law, but 30 April itself is an ordinary working day, so the celebration happens on the evening before the day off. The name comes from Saint Walburga, whose name day is 1 May.

What do Swedes do on Walpurgis Night?

In many towns and villages a large bonfire is lit at dusk, with a choir singing spring in and someone giving a spring speech. The fire once scared predators away from livestock about to go out to pasture. In the university cities of Uppsala and Lund, students celebrate all day with picnics, songs and parties.

Is 1 May a holiday in Sweden?

Yes. Första maj is one of Sweden’s statutory public holidays, whatever the weekday. Walpurgis Night, 30 April, is not, so shops and transport run normally on the evening itself. On 1 May public transport runs a Sunday service and Systembolaget, the state alcohol retailer, is closed. In 2027, 1 May is a Saturday.

Is Systembolaget open on Valborg?

On 30 April it keeps ordinary hours, because Walpurgis Night is not a public holiday. It closes on 1 May and, as every week, on Sunday. In 2027 that means shut on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May, so anything stronger than 3.5% must be bought by Friday 30 April. Local deviations can occur, so check your store.

What happens in Uppsala on 30 April?

Uppsala calls the day sista april. It runs from champagne breakfasts and raft racing on the river to herring lunches. At 15:00 the university’s vice-chancellor waves a student cap from the balcony of the Carolina Rediviva library, thousands put on their own caps, and the choir Orphei Drängar sings spring songs from the steps. Anyone can watch.

Do you need permission for a Valborg bonfire?

Yes, if the public can reach it: a bonfire in a public place needs a permit from the police under the Public Order Act. A fire for a closed party on land the public cannot access needs none. Either way, only branches and woody garden waste may be burned, and no fire may be lit during a fire ban.

Can I drink alcohol at a Valborg bonfire?

Often, but not everywhere. Sweden has no national ban on drinking in public; each municipality designates no-alcohol places by local ordinance, typically schoolyards, playgrounds and cemeteries plus mapped zones. Event rules can add limits: Lund’s Stadsparken bans glass bottles, and police confiscate alcohol from visitors under 20. Check the municipality’s map first.

Related guides

• Swedish public holidays — why 1 May is red and 30 April is not
• Systembolaget opening hours — holiday closures and when to shop
• Fire bans in Sweden — how to check the municipality you are standing in
• Drinking in public in Sweden — finding a municipality’s no-alcohol zones
• Uppsala — the city beyond its last day of April

Facts verified 2026-09-25. Sources: Isof, Sveriges Riksdag, Uppsala University, the City of Lund, Nacka municipality, Räddningstjänsten Östra Götaland, Räddningstjänsten Jämtland, Myndigheten för civilt försvar (formerly MSB), Krisinformation, Västtrafik and Systembolaget — full register in this topic’s source file. Uppsala and Lund times are 2026 figures; the 2027 programmes had not been published at verification. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.